IPIRA Startups

IPIRA Startups

Vedere

Brief Description

Vedere Bio, Inc. was developing gene therapy products to restore functional vision to patients who have suffered vision loss from inherited retinal degenerations, as well as other causes of both genetic and non-genetic vision loss. Vedere aimed to restore lost vision regardless of a patient's underlying genetics or their stage of disease.

Vedere was acquired by Novartis in 2020.

Inventors

Ehud Isaacoff, John Flannery, Amy Holt, Autoosa Salari, Benjamin Gaub, Dirk Trauner, Doris Fortin, Johannes Broichhagen, Joshua Levitz, Karen Isabelle Guerin, Katharine...

Varada Agriculture

Brief Description

Varada Agriculture is transforming pest management to reduce crop loss with proprietary RNA interference (RNAi) technology. The company's biodegradable products are safer for workers and consumers, while also minimizing residue impact on the environment. The company's RNAi technology uses inhibitory RNA molecules uniquely designed to work on a target organism without impacting beneficial organisms in nature. This method follows the Integrated Pest Management Plan principles, which recommend highly targeted pest control.

Founder and CEO Jyoti Taneja was a postdoc...

Valitor Inc.

Brief Description

Valitor, Inc. has developed novel methods of modifying therapeutic proteins to achieve substantial control over their pharmacokinetics, target specificity, and bioactivity. The company's technology platform can be broadly applied to improve the pharmacological properties of many protein drugs that are currently approved or under development. The lead product will be used to improve the treatment of diseases in ophthalmology. The company also has development pipelines for oncology and orthopedics products.

The company was incubated at Berkeley Skydeck, UC Berkeley's...

UrbanScan

Brief Description

UrbanScan developed technologies for producing 3D virtual models with LiDar and video camera data. The technology was originally developed in the lab of Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Professor Avideh Zakhor, who co-founded UrbanScan in 2005.

Google acquired the UrbanScan technology in 2007, and used the software for web-based 3D reconstruction of urban landscapes as the basis for Google Earth.

Inventors

John Flynn, Christian Frueh, Siddharth Jain, Russell Sammon, Avideh Zakhor

Timeline 2005...

Tularik Inc.

Brief Description

Tularik, Inc. engages in the discovery and development of orally available medicines that act through the regulation of gene expression. The company’s drugs include T67, T607, T131, T71, and T487. The T67 is an anti-cancer drug. The T607 would be used for treating gastric cancer and esophageal cancer. The T131 would be used for treating diabetes. The T71 would be used for treating obesity.

Tularik was co-founded in 1991 by UC Berkeley Professor Robert Tjian. Amgen acquired Tularik for $1.3 billion in 2004.

Inventors

Lucio Comai, Brian D. Dynlact, Timothy...

Tsingpo Tech, LLC

Brief Description

Tsingpo Tech is developing a technology invented at UC Berkeley for 3-dimensional chemical sensing on 2-dimensional surfaces.

Inventors

Takeshi Hayasaka, Liwei Lin, YuMeng (Simon) Liu

Timeline 2018. Company founded

TTech Systems, Inc.

Brief Description

TTech Systems, Inc. developed a proprietary, software-based road traffic monitoring system.

As principal programmer analyst for UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, founder/inventor Randall Cayford developed TTech's foundational patent-protected software and technologies that turn mobile phone signals and GPS locations into real-time traffic speed information. Cayford was CEO of TTech, until it merged with IntelliOne Technologies in 2004. At IntelliOne, which was headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Cayford served as Chief Technology Officer.

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TruVideo, Inc.

Brief Description

Software to enable video viewing on mobile devices, offering faster speed, lower power consumption, smaller footprint, and superior visual quality. TruVideo's technology is deployed on mobile applications for Verizon Wireless, AllTell, and U.S. Cell.

The company was co-founded by UC Berkeley Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Avideh Zakhor.

Inventors

Sen-ching Cheung, Ralph Neff, Avideh Zakhor

Timeline

1997. Company founded 2003. Product in the market

Travertine Technologies

Brief Description

Travertine partners with mining and fertilizer operations around the world to recharge critical element production with a circular, electrified process. Standard mining methods use megatons of sulfuric acid annually, and dispose of vast amounts of byproducts, such as phosphorus, lithium, and nickel. The Travertine process upcycles sulfate byproducts into carbon-negative sulfuric acid and green hydrogen, while simultaneously and permanently sequestering CO2 from the air into carbonate minerals.

Travertine Founder and CEO Laura Lammers obtained a...

Transformational Transportation Technologies, Inc.

Brief Description

Transformational Transportation Technologies develops infrastructure-assisted approaches facilitate self-driving cars, including automated vehicle lateral guidance. The company's rail-like automated mobility provides a fail-safe system with measurable reliability for Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) fleets.

The company was spun out to deploy magnetic guidance technology developed at UC Berkeley by researchers Drs. Wei-Bin Zhang and Robert Parsons, in the California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) program. Transformational Transportation...